3 billion people seek basic financial services – is Microfinance the answer?

January 29, 2006 Access to financial services can help poor and low-income clients increase and stabilize their incomes, build assets, and invest in their own future. A new book, Access for All: Building Inclusive Financial Systems published by CGAP and the World Bank, offers a fresh vision for the future. Drawing on lessons from 10 years of research, the book describes how microfinance can help poor people to become part of the financial mainstream. Access for All addresses the hotly-debated topics in microfinance today – the role of donors and governments; how to reach poorer clients, and those living in more remote rural regions; and the potential for new technology to reduce costs, allowing commercial businesses to serve poor clients. With only about one sixth of those who could use basic financial services currently having access, the book shows how to bridge that gap and reach the majority of the world’s population – the poor.

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